A recent study finds that home technology is becoming more important to buyers. For high-net-worth individuals, smart houses have been the standard for some time.

One of the more amusing aspects of new technology is how quickly something that once seemed so cutting edge is adopted as an essential and expected feature of everyday life.

Smart home technology, it appears, is trending along that curve.

A recent study of U.S. adults by Coldwell Banker found that 71% of respondents want a “move-in ready” home and of that group, 44% believe a move-in ready home should come with smart home technology installed.

“When somebody is going to look at a property, and it’s a brand new home and it’s at a multi-million dollar price point, if it doesn’t have smart home technology, they’re going to wonder ‘Why did they cut that corner?’”

As for why luxury homebuyers place the latest home tech on par with high-end appliances and the finest flooring, it’s all about everyday experiences.

“It’s not just with their homes,” Mr. Hertzberg said. “When they’re traveling, staying at five-star hotels around the world, they’re seeing smart home technology in hotel rooms and office spaces, airplanes, private jets. Smart home tech is very, very, very evident in the high-end of the market.”

Affluence also confers early adopter status on high-net worth individuals.

“If you look back to seven, eight, nine years ago you’d never see a smart home system in a $500,000 home,” Mr. Hertsberg said. “But you would in a $5 million home.”

And while the affluent may have been at the forefront of smart home adoption, it has become an important consideration across all economic brackets.

The Coldwell study found that more than a third (36%) of respondents believe that having smart home technology is a major selling point when buying a home, and more than half (54%) said they would chose a home with smart technology over one without, all other things being equal.

And as clever computing becomes more ubiquitous, those numbers will likely only go up in coming years.